The Jairo Beras saga still isn't over, despite the storm it's caused in recent weeks around the baseball industry. Major League Baseball still hasn't decided whether or not to approve Beras' contract with the Texas Rangers, since he originally provided a date of birth that made him ineligible to sign until later this summer.
Perfect Game USA has an account of how Beras' new date of birth came to discovery, and it's well worth a read.
In looking into Beras' background, the Rangers discovered that his father was a Nicaraguan who played in Dominican Summer League (undisclosed for what organization) in 1994 and then returned to Nicaragua. They did the math and figured that there was no way that Beras' actual birthdate could be December 25, 1995 as purported. They dug further into the infamously imperfect Dominican record system and found paperwork substantiating an earlier birthdate that would make Beras 17 years old and eligible to sign immediately. So they made him an offer he couldn't refuse.
The Rangers, of course, had no obligation to share this information with anyone else in baseball until after the fact under the current rules.
If true, then the Rangers did nothing wrong, and in fact, did everything right as they apparently discovered his actual date of birth. From there, they made the right decision for the Rangers, and for Beras, and made him an offer of over four million dollars -- which is much more money than he'd receiver under the new CBA rules.
It's still unknown if Major League Baseball will approve the contract or not, but we should find out in the coming weeks.
To talk with fellow Rangers fans about this, head over to Lone Star Ball and join the discussion there.